A Conservative MP says it may be necessary for visitors to Parliament Hill to go through a security checkpoint even before they walk on to the grounds in front of the Centre Block.

Currently, the screening of visitors on the Hill doesn’t happen until they pass through an airport-style metal detector in a basement checkpoint of the Centre Block, directly beneath the Peace Tower.

Under construction plans now underway, an underground “Visitor Welcome Centre” will be built as part of the current renovations of the West Block.

It will house a new security screening centre for visitors and include tunnels that connect the buildings on the Hill. However, it’s not expected to be completed until 2017.

In the wake of last week’s shooting on the Hill, House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer ordered a review of the incident and how to improve security.

In recent years, security access to the Hill has been tightened, as bollards were installed on vehicular lanes that lead from Wellington Street, directly in front of the Hill.

But those bollards are designed to stop vehicles. They did not impede Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who jumped out of his parked car on Wellington, carrying a rifle. Zehaf-Bibeau ran past the bollards at the gate and commandeered a minister’s parked vehicle to drive up to the Centre Block, where he fled down the Hall of Honour before being killed in a hail of gunfire.

Rick Dykstra, a St. Catharines, Ont. MP who is parliamentary secretary to the Canadian Heritage minister, told reporters this week there needs to be a “change” in security.

“The major thing that’s sort of been going through my head from a preparedness perspective is what happens from the streets of Wellington and the gates at Wellington and the front doors at the Centre Block.”

Dykstra said he doesn’t want the public to be kept away from Parliament, but noted that in Washington, D.C. if visitors want to enter the Congressional buildings, the “first thing” they must do is go through screening.

“You can’t get into the building without being able to do that, and you know, I wonder if that’s a direction that’s going to be considered because it obviously makes for a delay or a painful, slow entrance into Congressional buildings, but at the same time, it’s focused on safety.”

Dykstra noted that the day after last week’s shooting, Parliament Hill was sealed off to the public, and people with passes – such as MPs, staff, and journalists – had to show their identification to RCMP officers at the gates to the grounds on Wellington.

“There was a … very general understanding that you were going to have to provide evidence as to who you were and what was your purpose of coming up on the Hill,” said Dykstra.

“It didn’t bother me at all last week. I don’t know how you guys felt about it, but I certainly thought that that was a step that should be considered.”

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